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T.O. meat market was a way of life for Chapchuk memory," said Goody. "He talks about what Chinatown was Special to the Beaver 50 years ago, which was completely different geographically, and in a culinary If you're looking for a good place to eat sense, than it is today on Spadina Avenue. beef in Toronto, just ask Oakville's Ronald The early Chinese restaurants weren't on Chapchuk. Spadina at all." Working with the city's leading chefs J.J. Derma Meats was eventually and entrepreneurs, Chapchuk has supplied absorbed by Sysco and amalgamated with meat to Toronto's top restaurants, hotels Honeyman's Beef to become Sysco Fine and steakhouses for more than 40 years. Meats, where Chapchuk retired from in To commemorate his career, the local 2013. resident has chronicled his life's work in He returned to work a little more than a new book titled, Meat Man: An Insider's a year later for Oakville's Woodward Meat History of Toronto's Greatest Restaurants, Purveyors on Speers Road. which captures the culinary history of the "I wanted to go back to work. I missed city's most prominent eateries from 1950it so much. It was my life. I looked for a 2000. company that t into my mold of what Published by Oakville-based Mosaic J.J. Derma Meats used to be. That's hard Press, Meat Man includes accounts of to nd sometimes because things change Chapchuk's favourite memories and over the years," said Chapchuk. anecdotes as a meat supplier. While many of the establishments in "My book was to tell the truth and how I Chapchuk's book are now closed, the just happened to be in the right time in the 74-year-old meat connoisseur continues restaurant business. I went after all the best to service Toronto eateries and hotels with restaurants in the city. Some were better his current company. than others and some were more famous "I wrote a book about all the great times than others," said Chapchuk. that I had. It was hard (selling meat), Oakville's Ronald Chapchuk, left, chronicled his career in Meat Man: An Insider' s History of Toronto' s Greatest Restaurants , published by "I was very, very fortunate. It was a lot of Mosaic Press of Oakville. Matthew Goody worked with Chapchuk to research the work. | photo by Eric Riehl ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on but it was fun to know all these famous fun. I would think it's a lot different now." Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) guys like Barberian and service the nest Chapchuk's rst venture into the meat restaurants in Toronto," said Chapchuk. business was a brief one with Swift and "I'm very pleased that I wrote it because Company in the early 1960s. than 20 years. I have a mirror of my life during that period." The Oakville resident noted he went "in and out" of the meat "When Hockey Night in Canada came on, people would come in Meat Man: An Insider's History of Toronto's Greatest industry a couple of times when he rst started. and want to eat within an hour. It was a circus, so the chef felt like he "A good friend of mine, Barry Honeyman, was with (Honeyman was conducting the Toronto Symphony Orchestra -- cooking steaks Restaurants was released on March 3. Chapchuk had a Beef Purveyors). There was no chance for me to get an equity and roast beef. It was a big volume over a short period of time," said book signing in Oakville at Chapters/Indigo March 21. For more, visit www.mosaic-press.com/. position. There were two partners and I wanted an equity position Chapchuk. of some kind," said Chapchuk. "I thought, `OK, I'm going to move Decades of service helped Chapchuk form "very close" to Florida with my wife.'" friendships with numerous restaurants and entrepreneurs, he said, After several years in Florida, Chapchuk came back to Toronto including Napoleon's Christian Vinassac and his wife, Elizabeth; and met Joe Dermastja, with whom he started work at J.J. Derma Harold Ballard, who "treated me like part of the family;" and Harry General $8.50 | Children & Seniors $6.50 | All seats Tues $5.00 Meats in the late `70s. Barberian, owner of Barberian's Steak House. From that point, "we never looked back," Chapchuk said, and he "Harry seeded, if you will, a lot of the steakhouses downtown ShOWTiMES fOR MARCh 27 - ApRil 2 began selling meat to Napoleon, Winston's, La Scala, the CN Tower because a lot of people worked for him. Being the entrepreneurial OpENiNG MARCh 27: hOME, GET hARD, and other establishments. people they were, they didn't want to work for somebody for the rest OpENiNG ApRil 2: fURiOUS 7 "I had all the business with the CN Tower when it opened, so of their lives, so they opened their own restaurants," said Chapchuk. SEE ThE BREAKfAST ClUB iN filM.CA AfTER hOURS MARCh 27Th you can imagine how big that was if you needed two years to get a Meat Man covers Toronto's renowned delis, steakhouses, highreservation. But it's true," said Chapchuk. Cinderella (G) end pubs and early Chinatown, and includes detailed sections on Fri, Mon-Thu: 1:15, 4:30, 7:20, 9:45 In the "old days," the company would deliver meat three or four Chapchuk's "jewels" of more than four decades of dining in the city. SaT-Sun: 12:15, 2:30, 5:00, 7:20, 9:45 times a day to certain eateries, as it was located downtown, he said. Mosaic Press managing director Matthew Goody said the book The Divergent Series: Insurgent (PG) One of the Oakville man's favourite places to serve was Napoleon, not only describes Chapchuk's professional career, it also captures Fri-Thu: 1 :30, 4: 10, 6:45, 9:20 which Chapchuk said was the "only ve-star restaurant in Canada" his "early days of growing up in Toronto and emergence as a real Film.Ca After Hours: The Breakfast Club (14A) Fri: 11:30 at one time. foodie," including a chapter on his mother and her cooking. Furious 7 (PG) He also enjoyed providing beef to Barberian's Steak House, "There are certain portraits of Toronto that doesn't exist anymore. Thu: 7:00, 8:40 Winston's, La Scala and the Hot Stove Lounge at Maple Leaf Gardens, I don't want to say it's a lost Toronto, but there are certain areas that Get Hard (14A) which was a "great steakhouse" that Chapchuk catered to for more Ron has an experience with and a knowledge of that has faded from Fri-Thu: 1:20, 3:45, 7:10, 9:15 by Nathan Howes 35 | Thursday, March 26, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Home (G) Fri, Mon-Thu: 1:10, 6:30, 9:30 SaT-Sun: 12:00, 2:00, 6:30, 9:30 www.oakvillebeaver.com Splish, splash! Swimming lessons, swim lanes, relaxing leisure pool. FUTURE SHOP CORRECTION NOTICE NEWSPAPER RETRACTION FOR THE FUTURE SHOP MARCH 20 CORPORATE FLYER In the March 20 flyer, page 5, the HP All-In-One Wireless Inkjet Printer (Web ID: 10295825) was advertised with an incorrect savings claim. Please be advised that this printer's savings should be $50 NOT $130, as previously advertised. 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